The Posture of Success

The idea that forced non verbal poses can, at least temporarily, change one’s state of mind is nothing new, but the question of to what extent is being taken to new heights. Many of you will have heard that forcing yourself to smile can actually make you feel happy, however how many of you have used this useful theory to relieve yourself of sadness? I expect surprisingly few considering that nobody likes to feel sad and often even take other, more damaging, happiness restoring measures, like eating huge amounts of ice cream.

So what does it take to make people realise that a number of their problems can be overcome by increased attention to their physical stance or even, for the really keen, short posture exercises? Well, for many, job interviews are highly significant life events, as being accepted for the job of your dreams is not only likely to secure you financially but also satisfy you mentally.  However many of us have a tendency to dry up and say the “wrong thing” during these incredibly important five minute human interactions, and consequently leave the room with the knowledge that not only are we going to have to continue searching for a job placement in something that resembles our dream job but will probably have to settle for something a lot less in order to pay next month’s rent.

Interviews are therefore the area on which I will focus and hopefully uncover some insightful revelations. You may, or may not, be surprised to hear that the content of your speech during an interview is not the most important thing, and neither are the qualifications that you so proudly present. What the interviewers really care about, whether they know it or not, is the presence that you bring to the speech. To many this fact won’t sound hopeful, as presence, unlike speech content and qualifications, is often assumed to be an innate quality and therefore not manipulable. But luckily those who hold this assumption would be wrong. Presence of being is little more than our non-verbal behavior, so the signals that we give off with crossed legs, folded arms, excessive hair flicking etc., and a string of recent studies have shown that certain short posture exercises can affect our hormone levels and consequently our unconscious non verbal behavior.

One of these studies was conducted by Harvard Business School‘s Associate Professor Amy Cuddy and colleagues, who brought people into a lab, took a saliva sample, and made them do high or low power poses for two minutes. High power poses are open poses, such as hands on hips with shoulders back, and low power poses are more closed, such as arms folded and legs tightly pressed together. Those who adopted high power poses experienced elevated testosterone and decreased cortisol (stress), which ultimately gave them a feeling of power. Alternatively, the participants who adopted low power poses experienced exactly the opposite pattern of hormone or mood changes. This in turn had a significant effect on the differences in “presence” that low and high power pose participants brought to their speech in a high stress interview.  A panel of judges that were blind to the hypothesis and conditions unanimously evaluated the higher power pose as more suitable candidates for employment than low power pose participants.

Therefore the next time you go for an important interview or meeting do not use your precious waiting moments to skim through your notes or huddle over your ipad, in what are probably low power poses, but go find a secluded spot, probably a bathroom cubicle, and practice high power poses for a few minutes. Who knows, you may even “fake it till you make it” (Amy Cuddy).

Try out the technique of high power poses over the next few weeks and let us know if it works by replying below. 

Mieke Dale-Harris is working as an intern at the Institute of Advanced Development Studies (INESAD), La Paz, Bolivia. She is a psychology graduate from Goldsmiths University of London

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References:

1. Carney D. R., Cuddy J. C. A. and Yap A. J. (2010). Power Posing: Brief Nonverbal Displays Affect Neuroendocrine Levels and Risk Tolerance., Psychological Science 21, no. 10: 1363–1368.
2. Cuddy A. (2009), Just Because I’m Nice, Don’t Assume I’m Dumb. Breakthrough Ideas of 2009. Harvard Business Review 87, no. 2.